Foot corrector



w. M. BARRY FOOT CORRECTOR Filed Nov. 10. 1922 Patented Dec. 15 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER M. BARRY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOOT COBRECTOR.

Application filed November 10, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER M. BARRY, a citizen of the United States, residingat New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Foot Correctors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to foot cor-rectors for use in the treatment of broken down arches.

Itis' understood that when an arch and instep become weakened and break down, the inner edge of the foot stretches forward, causing an outward twist of the instep and toes. An object of my invention is to provide a correction which grips the foot just back of the toes at one end and the heel at the other end so as to draw them gently but firmly to their normal positions through the agency of elastic means. In this manner the arch is lifted up to its normal position while allowing the muscles to function without subjecting them to strain, and by the action of said elastic means, the bones are caused to snap back into place after each step. In this manner, the invention allows the weakened and strained muscles and ligaments to knit, grow strong and recover their normal elasticity. From use of the invention, and as the muscles grow stronger, they gradually function more and more independent of the aforesaid elastic means until they finally become capable of carrying the full load with out strain.

Vith these and other objects in view, the ilwention resides in certain novel construction and combination and arrangement of parts, the essential features of which are hereinafter fully described, are particularly pointed out in the appended claim, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side view of a foot showing an application of my invention thereto.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view.

Figure 3 is a perspective of the device.

In carrying the invention into practice, I employ a forwardly disposed harness or loop 5 and a rearwardly disposed harness or loop 6, the latter and the former being constructed of any suitable well-known textile material or the like. The harness 5 is provided with an opening 7 which accommodates the big toe of the foot.

Serial No. 600,063.

The rear harness is looped over the heel of the foot and when in position extends downwardly and forwardly in the direction of the arch of the foot. The said rear harness is connected with the front harness by means of a strip of elastic webbing 8. The connection between the two loops is on a line near the inside edge of the foot. Incident to this manner of yieldingly connecting the front harness 5 with the aforesaid rear harness 6, the foot is gripped at the front at a point just back of the toes, the rear harness 6 through the described method of connecting same with said front harness operating to draw the front and rear parts of the foot toward each other. This brings the parts gently but firmly to their normal positions, thus lifting the arch up to its normal position while allowing the muscles to properly function without subjecting them to undue strain. The elastic webbing 8 causes the bones to snap back into place after each step and allows the weakened and strained muscles and ligaments to knit, grow strong and recover their normal elasticity. As the muscles grow stronger they gradually function more and more, independent of the elastic webbing 8 until they finally become capable of carrying their load without strain.

By means of my invention the arch of the foot is raised by drawing the toes and ball of the foot inward and backward, thus eliminating all probability of friction or crowding, and leaving the toes free to function as body balancers.

By use of my invention means are provided for correcting the joint of the big toe and for gently but firmly forcing it down while holding it in its normal position, the elastic webbing 8 serving to draw the ball of the foot back so that the toes can stretch out and function unhampered.

The device operates to grip the foot just back of the toes and it functions to lift the arch into proper place. The toes are left absolutely free to function and balance the body. It has been found that with the use of my improved foot corrector a shoe of a size or two smaller than ordinarily reguired may be satisfactorily used with co1nort.

While I have described what I deem to be the most desirable embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that many of the details may be varied without in any way departing from the spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not limit myself to the exact details of construction herein set forth nor to anything less than the Whole of my invention limited only by the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is:

In a foot corrector device, a flexible loop adapted to embrace the front part of the foot and extend around the ball of the same and back part of the foot adjacent to the toes, a second loop adapted to embrace the heel of the foot and extending diagonally across the sides of the heel, an elastic web member connected With the first mentioned loop and the terminals of the second mentioned loop adapted to bridge the space below the arch of the foot.

In testimony whereof I have attired my ignature.

\VALTER M. Bi RRY. 

